Hundreds mourn 8-year-old Harry O’Connor in Sudbury

SUDBURY – Harry O’Connor, 8, was the kid in school who classmates would sit next to when they wanted to get their work done.

He was the kid who followed the rules and made sure everyone had a partner.

He called trampolines “jumpolines.”

Men, women and children filled every pew in Our Lady of Fatima Parish on Monday evening. Around 500 people were there. They watched from the balcony and sat in a stairwell. Toddlers perched on laps and adults stood two-rows deep in one corner.

The Catholic church's pastor, the Rev. Richard Erikson, gave Harry his First Communion in May and his final communion on Friday, in Boston Children’s Hospital. Harry died there on Saturday from trauma he suffered days earlier when a powerboat he was on capsized in choppy waters near Wareham.

Harry loved music – artists from Lionel Richie and Queen to John Legend and the Backstreet Boys. After Harry’s father spoke, his voice soft and his words slow, the church clapped along to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

Paudie O’Connor and Laura Lenehan, Harry's parents, are originally from Ireland. Their son will be buried there on Thursday. He is survived by three older siblings: Ellen, Charlie and Joe.

Harry was about to enter third grade at Nixon Elementary School. Grief counselors were available at Nixon and Curtis Middle School on Monday, according to Superintendent Anne Wilson.

Harry was one of 12 people aboard the 24-foot Four Winns Horizon powerboat when it capsized near Stony Point Dike in Wareham on Wednesday. A sailor who witnessed the wreck reported that a boy was trapped under the hull.

Waves near the dike, which is close to the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal, were two- to four-feet high around the time the boat flipped, 4:41 p.m., according to a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Environmental Police.

Harry was rescued by a commercial diver named Michael Margulis, who happened to be nearby. Paramedics performed CPR on the boy as they took him to an ambulance.

Harry was taken to Tobey Hospital in Wareham, and later on Wednesday flown to Boston Children’s Hospital. The other 11 people – eight children and three adults – had no serious injuries. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s office is investigating.

Jonathan Dame can be reached at 508-626-3919 or jdame@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DameReports

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